McMahon, Henry Ernest (1894–1970)

Henry Ernest McMahon was an Australian Seventh-day Adventist doctor.

Birth and Family

Henry Ernest McMahon was born on February 21, 1894, in Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia. He was the second son (and fifth child) Robert Hamilton and Annie Isabel Teychenne McMahon’s (November 23, 1862-September 21, 1941; May 2, 1869-January 21, 1918) twelve children. His siblings included an older brother, Robert (1887-1975), three older sisters, Marion (Tennent, 1888-1952), Winifred (Lobb then Atkins, 1890-1978), and Ivy (Radford, 1892-1987). There were three younger brothers, Norman, (1895-1946), Percy (1901-1988), and Benjamin (1904-1980), and four younger sisters, Lillian (Weil, 1897-1973), Nina (Minns, 1907-1990), Pauline (Bartram, 1911-1943), and Rita (Mitchell, 1912-1980). A number of McMahon’s siblings entered church employment. Four were literature evangelists, five became educators, three were nurses, one was a missionary with her husband and another married a doctor.¹

Education

The McMahons were farmers on Rigby Island in the Gippsland Lakes region of Victoria, Australia. Robert McMahon was pleased to have five sons to assist him on the farm. However, his wife believed that all the children should go to school and that McMahon in particular should have opportunity for further education. To get to school, the children had to row from their island to Cunninghame (now Lakes Entrance), a distance of nearly two kilometers. This regular exercise developed in them strong muscles and healthy constitutions.²

McMahon loved learning and read voraciously. With encouragement from his mother, once he had completed all the grades of the Cunninghame school, he decided to attend high school, the nearest one being 100 kilometers away in Sale. As his parents were not able to support him financially, McMahon, at age 14, arranged to board with the Sale High School headmaster, paying his way by cleaning the school at night, delivering mail for the Post Office, and working at other jobs on the weekend, such as assisting a survey team. Despite having to work so much, he did well scholastically, receiving Merit Awards for English, history, math and science. He finished high school one year early, receiving his Junior and Senior Certificates simultaneously.³

Discovering that the army would facilitate further study, McMahon enlisted and commenced an officer training course.⁴

Conversion

Henry’s father was a nominal Presbyterian; thus, the children identified with the denomination although there was little religious observance practiced. In fact, it was McMahon’s older brother Robert’s reputation for confounding the local ministers that introduced the family to Adventism. Robert’s assistance was sought by one of the ladies on his milk round, Mrs. Carstairs, to straighten out her son, Will, who had joined a new religious group, the Seventh-day Adventists, while working in Western Australia. Will’s visit home for Christmas in 1913 coincided with meetings being held by the Adventists in Cunninghame, which Robert attended. He was surprised when the Adventist minister agreed with his opening argument against a God who would consign sinners to an eternity in hell. He soon found he could accept the beliefs that all came from the Bible and shared these with his parents and siblings.⁵

When Henry McMahon came home on Christmas leave, he too was persuaded to attend the meetings presented by Waldorf and Driver, and joined his parents and several siblings in accepting the Adventist message.⁶

McMahon was now faced with a dilemma regarding his quest for education through the army. Upon hearing about the work study program at the Seventh-day Adventist College at Avondale, he decided to continue his education there. He was not able to resign from the army immediately, but after sitting his first officer’s examination in February 1914, and being awarded the rank of sergeant in April, he was able to separate from the army.⁷ McMahon, along with his brother Robert, their parents, and two others, were baptized on May 12, 1914.⁸

Nation-Wide Notoriety

Robert McMahon also desired training for soul-winning now that he had a new purpose in life, and commenced building a 17-foot fishing boat to sell as a means of obtaining the funding necessary to attend college. When Henry McMahon reached home after leaving the army, he helped his brother finish the boat. They decided they would get a better price for it in Sydney; therefore, they would accomplish two goals simultaneously by using the boat, named Advent, to travel to college.⁹

The size of the boat allowed the brothers to stow half a ton of luggage, including a large number of Henry McMahons’s precious books, and a supply of pies provided for their sustenance by their mother.¹⁰ The trip commenced on Thursday, June 25, 1914, and was completed on Tuesday, July 7. Although they had a small lugsail, the weather was too boisterous for them to be able to use it, and the journey was accomplished by both young men rowing with large sweep-oars. After leaving home it was 32 hours of strenuous rowing before they found a place where they could safely land and have their first sleep. It was hard rowing all the way, and twice the brothers said their good-byes, fearing they would fall victim to the sea, but, putting their faith in God, they were able to safely complete their journey.¹¹

The press picked up the story just two days after they left home and the report of these two remarkable Seventh-day Adventist ‘boys’ (Robert was 26 and Henry was 20) who were rowing to college, piqued the interest of the nation.¹² Fifteen newspapers in states from New South Wales to Western Australia ran the story, reporting their feat with admiration. The Adventist church received wide-spread positive publicity and previously derogatory comment about Adventists ‘milk-sops’ and weaklings was replaced by statements such as “fine, healthy types of muscular Christianity”¹³ and “a pair that any family might be proud of.”¹⁴

Amongst the thousands that gathered to welcome them upon landing at Coogee Beach just south of Sydney Harbour, were two men who offered Robert a good price for his boat, so the brothers completed their trip to Avondale by train.¹⁵

Three days after they commenced their journey, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria had been assassinated and a month later the world was at war. If McMahon had not left the army when he did, he would not have been able to leave at all. After the war he learned that none of his army friends had survived. This had quite an impact on him, as he realized that God had preserved his life a second time; from then on he shared his faith with all he associated with, whether privately or professionally.¹⁶

Family Caregiver

Henry studied to be a teacher during the rest of 1914, and did so well he was offered a job teaching at the Warburton School in 1915.¹⁷ However, he rejected the offer, choosing instead to study for another year and spent the last six weeks of the 1915 school year substitute teaching at the Avondale school while the regular teacher took leave.¹⁸ He did accept a position teaching at Williamstown High School in Melbourne while seeking entrance to the University of Melbourne. Here he commenced medical studies.¹⁹

In January of 1918, McMahon’s mother died. The youngest child was only five, so McMahon rented a house in Melbourne and invited his siblings to live with him.²⁰ Lillian McMahon, who was 21, resigned from her teaching job in Gippsland and came up to Melbourne to keep house for the five younger siblings.²¹ To support them, McMahon took on extra work, fitting it around his studies, enabling his brothers and sisters to be educated and receive training for a career.²² Nevertheless, he still found time to participate in church outreach programs such as health talks and the promotion of vegetarianism.²³

Marriage and Family

In 1914, fifteen-year-old Alma Josephine Addison of Melbourne had her imagination fired by the McMahon brothers’ row to Sydney. She kept the newspaper clipping about their trip and dreamed of marrying her hero, Henry McMahon. Two years later, she and her mother became Adventists and joined the church the McMahons attended.²⁴ In 1925, her dream came true, when she and Henry McMahon were married on December 19 in the Windsor (now East Prahran) Seventh-day Adventist Church.²⁵

The McMahons’ marriage was blessed with five children–Henry Joseph Addison (1930-2016), Mary Alma Josephine, John Marshall (1933-2006), Lloyd Hamilton (1937-2016) and Don Stewart. All were high achievers. Three of the boys became doctors and one a lawyer, and Mary McMahon Drost received an Order of Australia for community work.²⁶

Career

Following his graduation from medical school, McMahon became the first medical superintendent of the newly-established Prince Henry Hospital in Melbourne.²⁷ A couple of years after his marriage, he and his wife moved to the coal mining area of Kurri Kurri, NSW, not far from Avondale, where he opened a private practice. For the next 21 years he lovingly served this community and also provided medical care to the college community at Avondale.²⁸

When World War II broke out, he became Area Medical Commandant for the National Emergency Service, attaining the rank of Major.²⁹ At the end of the war, he moved back to Victoria, where he was a member of the staff at Warburton Adventist Sanitarium for ten years.³⁰ During this time he spent six months in New Guinea serving at the Mt. Hagen Hansenide Colony.³¹ He also became a fixture at Victorian Conference camp meetings, providing around-the-clock voluntary service as the medical officer for many years.³²

Later Life

McMahon continued to be active in his retirement, establishing the Broadmeadows Clinic where his eldest son, Hal, was his senior partner.³³

On March 18, 1970, Henry Ernest McMahon died of cancer, leaving a legacy of a lifetime of dedicated service to his family, church, and the community.³⁴

Sources

“A Perilous Voyage.” Port Pirie Recorder and North Western Mail, July 10, 1914.

“Adventists' Perilous Job. Fishing Boat Excursion.” Bathurst Times, July 10, 1914.

“Adventists' Perilous Job. Fishing Boat Excursion.” Tweed Daily, July 10, 1914.

“Adventurous Voyage Trip in A 'Cockle Shell.' Rough Weather and Mountainous Seas.” National Advocate, July 10, 1914.

“An Adventurous Trip from Gippsland Lakes.” Leader (Orange), July 10, 1914.

“An Adventurous Trip. From Gippsland Lakes.” Border Morning Mail and Riverina Times, July 10, 1914.

“Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980.” Ancestry.com. Accessed April 21, 2019. http://search.ancestry.com.au/.

Burgess, C. L. “Baptismal Service at Lakes Entrance, Victoria.” Australasian Record, January 15, 1923.

Chaney, B. S. “Church-Schools in New South Wales.” Australasian Record, January 11, 1915.

“Cold Pie and Water - Adventists’ Adventurous Journey.” Daily Herald (Adelaide), July 10, 1914.

“Cuninghame Voyagers Reach Sydney Safely.” Mildura Telegraph and Darling and Lower Murray Advocate, July 10, 1914.

“Cuninghame Voyagers Reach Sydney Safely.” Snowy River Mail (Orbost), July 10, 1914.

“Educational Notes.” Australasian Record, February 17, 1919.

“Fishing Boat's Cruise.” Kyneton Guardian, July 14, 1914.

Fitzclarence, Eunice, and Don McMahon, “Our Fathers’ 12-Day Row from Cunninghame to Sydney.” Unpublished.

“Credentials and Licenses.” Australasian Record, October 12, 1914.

Jones, Lllewellyn. “Henry E. McMahon obituary.” Australasian Record, May 4, 1970.

Jones, Lllewellyn. “Henry E. McMahon obituary.” Australasian Record, May 4, 1970.

Jones, Llewellyn, and Don McMahon. “Life Sketch of Henry Ernest McMahon 1894-1970.” Unpublished.

Jones, Pastor Llewellyn. “Life Sketch of Dr. Henry E. McMahon.” Australasian Record, May 4, 1970.

Jones, Llewellyn. “McMahon, Alma obituary.” Australasian Record, July 18, 1987.

McMahon, Henry E. Mixed Marriages: Roman Catholic Dogmas Critically Examined Scripturally, Historically, Prophetically. Sydney: H. Gorton, 1946.

McMahon, Henry E. The Sabbath. N.p., [1960?].

McMahon, Henry E. Sh'ma Israel: Hear O Israel! God's Message to His Jewish Children Today. N.p, 1956.

“Perilous Trip to Sydney: Twelve Days in Fishing Boat.” Weekly Times (Melbourne), Saturday, July 11, 1914; “Perilous Voyage. Cruise of ‘The Advent.’” Kalgoorlie Western Argus, September 15, 1914.

“Risky Trip - Brothers Sailing To Sydney in Fifteen-Footer.” The Evening Star (Boulder, WA), June 27, 1914, 1.

“Rowed from Gippsland, Young Men's Adventures.” Australasian Record, July 20, 1914.

Smith, J. L. “Victorian Mutual Improvement Society.” Australasian Record, September 29, 1919.

Snow, C. M. “McMahon-Addison.” Australasian Record, February 22, 192.

Stewart, J. S. “New Church at Lakes Entrance, Victoria.” Australasian Record, February 22, 1915.

Notes

1. Don McMahon, interview by author, December 6, 2016.↩

2. Ibid.↩

3. Llewellyn Jones and Don McMahon, “Life Sketch of Henry Ernest McMahon 1894-1970,” 1970, Unpublished.↩

4. Ibid.↩

5. Eunice Fitzclarence and Don McMahon, “Our Fathers’ 12-Day Row from Cunninghame to Sydney,” Unpublished.↩

6. Ibid. and J. S. Stewart, “New Church at Lakes Entrance, Victoria,” Australasian Record, February 22, 1915, 5.↩

7. Ibid.↩

8. Morris Lukens, “Cunninghame, Victoria,” Australasian Record, June 8, 1914, 5.↩

9. Ibid.; “Rowed from Gippsland, Young Men's Adventures.” Australasian Record, 20 July 20, 1914, 8.↩

10. Eunice Fitzclarence and Don McMahon, “Our Fathers’ 12-Day Row from Cunninghame to Sydney.” Unpublished.↩

11. Ibid.↩

12. “Risky Trip–Brothers Sailing to Sydney in Fifteen-Footer,” The Evening Star, (Boulder, WA), June 27, 1914, 1. (Example of the 15 newspaper reports about the journey.)↩

13. “Perilous Trip to Sydney: Twelve Days in Fishing Boat,” Weekly Times [Melbourne]. July 11, 1914, 33.↩

14. “Perilous Voyage – Cruise of the ‘Advent,’” Kalgoorlie Western Argus, September 15, 1914, 2.↩

15. Ibid.; “Fishing Boat's Cruise,” Kyneton Guardian, July 14, 1914, 4.↩

16. Don McMahon, email message to author, June 7, 2016.↩

17. “Credentials and Licenses,” Australasian Record, October 12, 1914, 18.↩

18. B. S. Chaney, “Church-Schools in New South Wales,” Australasian Record, January 11, 1915, 2.↩

19. Llewellyn Jones and Don McMahon, “Life Sketch of Henry Ernest McMahon 1894-1970,” 1970, Unpublished.↩

20. Ibid.↩

21. “Educational Notes,” Australasian Record, February 17, 1919, 8.↩

22. Llewellyn Jones and Don McMahon, “Life Sketch of Henry Ernest McMahon 1894-1970,” 1970, Unpublished.↩

23. J. L Smith, “Victorian Mutual Improvement Society.” Australasian Record, September 29, 1919, 5-6.↩

24. Don McMahon, email message to author, June 7, 2016; Llewellyn Jones, “Alma McMahon obituary,” Australasian Record, July 18, 1987, 15.↩

25. C. M. Snow, “McMahon-Addison,” Australasian Record, February 22, 1926, 7.↩

26. Don McMahon, email message to author, June 7, 2016.↩

27. Llewellyn Jones and Don McMahon, “Life Sketch of Henry Ernest McMahon 1894-1970,” 1970, Unpublished.↩

28. Pastor Llewellyn Jones, “Life Sketch of Dr. Henry E. McMahon,” Australasian Record, May 4, 1970, 3.↩

29. Llewellyn Jones and Don McMahon, “Life Sketch of Henry Ernest McMahon 1894-1970,” 1970, Unpublished.↩

30. Ibid.↩

31. Pastor Llewellyn Jones, “Life Sketch of Dr. Henry E. McMahon,” Australasian Record, May 4, 1970, 3.↩

32. Ibid.↩

33. Llewellyn Jones and Don McMahon, “Life Sketch of Henry Ernest McMahon 1894-1970,” 1970, Unpublished.↩

34. Llewellyn Jones, “Henry E. McMahon obituary,” Australasian Record, May 4, 1970, 3.↩